Family portrait
by DSY
Summary: Alfred and Mathew are only three years old and are kept up constantly by their parents fighting. Based off the song family portrait by Pink. F.A.C.E family.


"Stop it you crazy bitch!"

"Who the hell are you calling crazy!"

"You!"

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it from you!"

"You never listen anyway!"

They were at it again. Mommy was yelling at Daddy for coming home late. Again. This was a normal occurrence in this house.

6 year-old twins by the name of Alfred and Mattie lied in their bed upstairs, covering their ears in the hopes that they might actually block out the screams and crashes.

"Al, make them stop." Mattie cried into his brother's chest as he heard another glass break.

"I wish I could." Alfred kissed the top of his brother's head. He had to be strong for the both of them. Mattie was too fragile and sweet to take this.

Ever since they turned three their parents wouldn't stop fighting. Their father Francis started coming home late. Nobody thought anything of it till he started coming home with lipstick on his collar and hickeys on his neck. Their mother Arthur, he was actually a man but the twins insisted on calling him mom and it just kind of stuck, pretended not to notice for the first few months, but then things got out of hand. They were always fighting now. They didn't even sleep in the same bed anymore.

Alfred and Mattie weren't actually twins; they sure did look a lot alike though. What happened was Francis and Arthur both got someone to carry a baby for them. Alfred was technically Arthur's and Mattie was Francis'. They both could still remember them saying it didn't matter because they were a family. It's been three years of fighting nonstop and it's slowly getting worse.

"That's it I want a divorce!"

Both boys sat up when they heard their mother say that.

"Fine with me! You take Alfred I'll take Mattie!"

"Good! I hope Mattie will survive with a low life like you!"

"Go to hell!"

Mattie threw off the blankets and made a break for the door. Alfred stopped him before he could get caught up in the fight. Alfred tried once and his mother accidentally kicked him when he tried to stop him from hurting Dad. That had only made things worse Arthur blamed Francis for it and thus another fight was created.

"Mattie, stop you can't get in the middle."

Mattie clawed at the arms trapping his waist. "I have to! I can't let this happen."

"There's nothing we can do."

"But I have to. I can't lose you, or Mommy." He started sobbing as he reached for the knob on the door. "I want us to be a family."

"We aren't a family now!"

Mattie stilled in his brother's hold.

"We were a family. We used to have fun and play, but that's not what we are now. I don't want to lose you Mattie,but I don't want to hear them fight either." He hugged his brother from behind. He hated this. He wanted them to be together forever, that was asking too much. Their parents couldn't go a day without fighting. This was like a prison. "It's going to happen no matter what we do."

Mattie fell to the ground in tears. He held onto his brother for dear life. "Why? Why us?"

"Hey," he whispered sweetly. "It's not all bad. I'm sure one day we'll all be a family again." That was the first lie he ever told his brother. There was no chance of these two getting back together.

"Al?"

"Yeah?" When he looked at his brother Mattie gave him a small peck on the lips.

"Promise me we'll always be brothers no matter what."

Alfred hugged his brother with as much strength as he could without hurting him. This was the one thing he could do for his brother. "I promise when I grow up I'll find you and we'll be our own family."

Mattie buried his face in the taller blonde's shoulder. They held on to each other until they heard Arthur's door slam shut.

"come on," Alfred pulled his brother to his feet. It was time for them to go check on their mom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alfred and Mattie poked their heads in to see their mother sobbing into a pillow like always.

"Mommy?" Alfred asked.

Arthur lifted his head and smiled at his children. "Oh hey boys," He quickly tried to wipe away the tears away from his puffy red eyes. "Don't stand there. Come sit with me." He patted the spot next to him.

The twins clambered onto the mattress. Arthur ended up having to pulled both of them up. "Why aren't you two in bed?"

"We couldn't sleep."

Arthur smiled sadly at his kids. "I guess you guys know then."

Both boys nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry kids, but we can't do this anymore. Mattie you're going to go live with Daddy and Alfred you're staying with me." He petted his sons' hair when their eyes started to water. "I wish I could keep you Mattie, but you're not mine. And Daddy just doesn't love Mommy anymore."

They both heard their Mother's voice crack at the end. He still loved Francis. That's the only reason this had been going on so long was because he was hoping he might actually come around.

"It's okay because we still love Mommy." Alfred held his arms out to his mother.

Arthur hugged both of his children. "I'm so sorry. If there was anything I could do I would fix this."

It was that line again. They've heard it from Dad too. Only he said that him and Mommy drifted apart. They didn't blame Mom or Dad. These things happened.

"One more thing, you're leaving tomorrow."

Mattie clinged tighter to his mother and brother. He didn't want to let go. He'd spent his whole life with this family and to go on without them was something he couldn't even begin to imagine.

They heard a soft knock on the door and turned to see Francis standing in the doorway. "Mattie, come help me pack your things." He wasn't demanding or ruthless. You could see he hated this just as much as the rest of them.

Mattie climbed off the bed and followed his father with his head hung low.

Arthur and Alfred watched as they left. It was as if they were out of their lives already.

"Mommy, will I ever see them again?"

Arthur pulled Alfred close to his chest. "Don't worry honey, you'll get to visit once in a while."

A smile broke out on Alfred's face. "So, we can go see them whenever we want?"

"Not we."

"Oh," Alfred dropped his head. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. Now that he thought about it that was a stupid question.

"But Mattie can also come see us so we'll all be together." Arthur quickly tried to cheer his son up.

"No we won't." Alfred sniffled as he wiped his tears. "Because Dad won't be there."

"I'm sorry Al, but there's nothing I can do. Grown ups sometimes just drift apart. You'll understand when you're older."

"I DON'T WANT TO UNDERSTAND!" Alfred went running out of the room to his brother.

He didn't care what happened when he got older he would never do this. When he fell in love he was going to stick with them till the end. People don't just drift apart. That would mean they would have to stop being in love and he didn't care who objects love isn't something that can just disappear. And one day he was going to prove it to his parents.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Let's go Mattie." Francis called to the blonde when his stuff was all packed.

"Hang on!" Mathew ran up to give his Mother and brother one last hug.

Alfred held onto his brother for an extra second. "Don't worry Mattie, I'll see you as much as I can and when we grow up I'm going to marry you and we'll make our own family."

"M-marry?" Mattie asked blushing bright red.

Alfred grinned nodding. "I'm going to prove you can't stop loving someone because I'm never going to stop loving you."

Arthur shook his head at his kids. They'd learn soon enough. No reason to crush their dreams now.

"I-I'd like that."

"Come on, Mattie!" Francis honked the horn.

Mattie rushed into the car while waving goodbye.

Of course when Mattie and Alfred grew up they never actually get married because they realized why that would be weird, but they did prove their parents wrong. You can never just stop loving someone.

I'm sorry if that sucked I'm kind of new at this and I think I could have made this a little bit longer, but I'm out of ideas. Please be gentle I'm not very good at this.


End file.
